C0D3 M0NK3YZ

Friday, January 16: the final day, basically

2009-01-16T02:14:00.000-08:00

Greetings, hard working code monkeys!

Today is the last day before the exam week. As such, I will list both the final requirements for your exam project, and I will list exactly where you stand for each item which needed to have been completed along the way.

Part the First: PROJECT REQUIREMENTS

A) You wil need to make use of at least seven of the ten blog postings in the construction of your project

B) Each instance of use must be fully commented in your code: that is, there must be a comment listing the date and a brief name of the posting, as well as the website address for that post, and a description of what this particular technique or code snippet does to make your program work

C) Your project needs to do something, and I need to be able to understand what that something is BEFORE I run it. You will understand my reluctance to "just run the program and see what it does" :-0

D) Your project needs to work. If I cannot get it to run, there will need to be points taken off for that.

E) Consideration will also be given as to just how original your program is. In other words, if you simply copy stuff we already did, that will not be as original as if you took the techcniques given and created something unlike anything done in the class.

F) Liikewise, I will be making some personal judgements on your programs; call it the Uncle Paulie coolness factor.

OK, those are the project requirements. Here is where you stand with the steps you were supposed to have taken thus far:

PROJECT NAME/DESCRIPTION/PROJECT STARTED
EVERYONE HAS DONE THIS

COMMENTS EMAILED
I have them from everyone except Josh and Ariel

BLOG POSTINGS THAT WILL HELP
I only have these from Callum, Jake, Tom and Dillon, Evan, Ryan N. and E.J. (sort of, hey Ejjjj, you forgot the URLS!)

UPLOADED THE PROJECT AT LEAST ONCE
I have this from everyone except James, Ariel and Joshua

Wednesday, January 14: two days left before the exam week!

2009-01-14T07:21:00.000-08:00

Greetings, privateers of code!

I'll just get right to it: here is where you all stand today:

Start Project/Name and Description: Everyone has completed this part, hooray!

Project comments: these were supposed to be emailed to me as a separate document. I never received these from Ariel or Joshua, and only got the most minimal comments emailed by Dillon and Ryan C. I STILL need these comments emailed so do that straight away. And yes, of course, copy and paste them from your current exam project

Blog postings that will help: I only have these from Callum, Jake and Thomas, plus 5 out of 10 for Dillon. The rest of you need to get this DONE, ASAP. Either post them in our Google group, or email them to me.

Either way, they need to be included in the updated comments of your projects which you will upload today.

Additionally, I will need each of you to copy and paste the entire code of your current project, comments and all, and paste it into the body of an email. The subject line must include your name, the phrase "my exam code" and todays date, which is Wed, Jan 14

Let's do it, let's get it done!

Mr. L

Tuesday, January 13: Three days left!

2009-01-13T05:45:00.000-08:00

Greetings, one and all,

The subject header says it all; or at least most of it. You have three days left to work on your final exam projects, not including the actual exam day. I will be issuing a final set of project specs by tomorrow; in the meantime, continue what you have been doing already, and upload your work to our account at Box.net BEFORE the end of the class

Cheers,
Mr. L

Friday January 9: as long as we have code, who cares about snow?

2009-01-09T08:33:00.000-08:00

Howdy rowdy codies!
Ok, here's where stand on the exam project:

Project name and a description
Everyone except Ryan C. has posted or emailed a description. However, I'm still lacking a name from the following people:
Callum
Ariel
Joshua
Evan
Sean

Project comments
I have a good start on comments from the following:
Callum
Sean
Jake
Ryan N. (holy crap, the most commenting you've EVER done)
Tom

I also have some very minimal commenting from :
Dillon
Evan
E.J.

I HAVE NO COMMENTS ON FILE FOR ANY OF THE REST OF YOU

Blog postings that will help
I have ten blog postings received from Callum & Tom, and 2 from Dillon.

NONE from the rest of you.

This brings me to some new stuff:

When you make use of the blog postings to develop your program ( and you have to, I'm requiring it!), you will need to insert a comment in your code when you do so. The comment can be a one liner if that gets the job done, BUT, I will need to ask that you copy and paste the exact web address of the blog posting in question as part of that comment

This also holds true if you make use of resources you've found elsewhere on the 'Net. I am not requiring you to go out there and find stuff for this exam, but if you do, you'd better include a comment detailing what the code does and where you found the idea, ie, a website address.

Look, n00bz doing a term paper have to use footnotes. Same thing here, only WE AIN'T N00Bz!

Cheers, and happy coding
Mr. L

Thursday, January 8: you need to send me comments and blog postings!

2009-01-07T17:53:00.001-08:00

Greetings, exam beaters! I am heartened to see that most of you have set up a new project, named it, and posted a brief description of what it is supposed to do. (I will be speaking with those few of you who have NOT done this yet.) However, very few of you have written any sort of comments for this program yet, and only one of you has told me which blog postings he is going to make use of for the purposes of this eam project. That needs to change. TODAY.

'nuff said!

Mr. L

PS There is much more to do on these exam projects after we get past this point.

Wed Jan. 7: keep on keepin' on!

2009-01-06T09:04:00.000-08:00

Greetings, code monkeys!

Today, you will be continuing with what was begun yesterday. I have looked in both my email and in our Google group: most of you have a project description, and some of you have some (limited) project comments. The rest of you have given no proof that you've even begun, so I am assuming that you haven't. Here is the run down so far:

Project name and description:
So far everyone has posted a description of their exam project except Callum, Ryan C., Jake, and Ariel (and Joshua, yes, I know you were absent yesterday, please read yesterday's blog posting) This description needs to be posted in our Google group. HOWEVER, no one has told me the NAME of their project! Everyone needs to remedy that right way. As in NOW

Comments written and emailed
So far, I have only been emailed comments by Erik, Evan, Ryan N. and Thomas; and the only one whose comments wouldn't fit in a subject line for an email is Tom's. THIS IS AN EXAM REQUIREMENT. And now is definitely not the time to get cheap on me.

Blog postings that will help
So far, none of you has gotten this done yet. That needs to be remedied right way. Yes, that would mean NOW

OK, you have stuff to do, and lots of it. Let's do it, let's get it done!

Cheers,
Mr. L

Monday, January 5: Welcome back!

2009-01-04T14:34:00.000-08:00

Greetings, noble VB programmers!

We are almost at the end of our sojourn through Visual Basic: two short school weeks, then we're at the exam period. By my count, we have only eight classes left until then, INCLUDING today. And then, th-th-th-that's all folks! we are D-O-N-E. So we have to make these remaining days count.

What I would like to begin with today is some basic exam prep. That may sound backwards, but think about it: exactly what kind of exam could we have in a class like this? How do you fit Visual Basic Programming into a multiple choice format? Shall we write an essay about our love for arrays, classes, modules and functions? Nahhhhh, I don't think so! Uncle Paulie don't play that way.

Don't misunderstand: there WILL be an exam, but at least part of it must be done beforehand. You've been working on projects all semester long, both your own, and "mini projects" I have assigned you to explore how various parts of this language work. Sooooooooooooo, at least some part of your exam will necessarily involve a "mini project" of your own design, that you work on BEFORE the actual exam week. (Hey, if we can't get first lunch, we should at least be the first people done with exams, right?)

So here is what we are going to begin with:

A) Come up with a name for your project and a two or three sentence description of what it will do, and how you anticipate that it will work. Post this in our Google group under a heading that includes your name and the phrase "exam project description"

B) Next, you will need to create a new project, name it as you said you would, and then, before you write so much as one line of code, THINK about what your program will need to work. What will it require in the way of arrays? Function calls? Modules? Timers? Loops? THINK, and then

WRITE YOUR COMMENTS FIRST DIRECTLY INSIDE THE CODE FOR YOUR PROJECT

after which, you will copy these comments into an email which you will send to me, said email having a Subject line that includes your name and the phrase "exam project comments"

I will not accept any exam project where this has not been done first, and no kidding, if you're slacking with this part, I will send it back to you, and tell you to re-work it until you get it right.

C) While you're writing these comments, you might want to think about all the lessons you've learned in this class thus far, and compile a list of the blog postings -- including the EXACT website address for that posting-- which you deem will be most helpful in creating your exam project. You will need to include at least ten of these in another email you will send to me; subject line should read "blog postings that will help" plus your name.

Once this is done, you are free to work on your personal projects, or get cracking on your exam project.

Cheers,
Mr. L

Tues Dec. 23: Please hand in ALL your projects as a zip file!

2008-12-23T05:31:00.000-08:00

Gentlemen: there's nothing left to do today except to upload ALL the projects that you have completed, so that I may do some honest grading during the vacation. I DO have to enter in your grades during the vacation -- happy happy, joy joy!!-- so make sure to give me EVERYTHING, including your personal project, which better be marked as such. Additionally, your zip file better have your first and last name on it before you upload.

Other than that,
WE AIN'T DOING JACK SQUAT!

Thursday December 18, part THREE

2008-12-17T07:37:00.000-08:00

OK, one last thing, and then you get to play on your own with your Classes. This time, we are going to use a control created by a class to make an object out of another class, and put that object on our form. In other words, we can create objects whenever we want!

Here is how you do it:

A) Make a new Class called "BlueTextBox". Please name it correctly!!!

B) add the proper "inherits" statement for a TextBox -- see if you can figure out to do this by looking at inherit statements you've done before

C) Using the same proces I JUST SHOWEED YOU, set up a "Layout" SUB for this new Class. Here is what I want you to put inside that:

Text = "This is my new TextBox"
BackColor = Color.Blue
ForeColor = Color.Yellow

D) In the "PopItUp" SUB that you created earlier, you will add some code to make an object from this new Class, and then place that object on your Form

Dim myTextBox As New BlueTextBox( )
myTextBox.Location = New Point(200, 100)
myTextBox.Size = New Size(400, 55)
Form1.Controls.Add(myTextBox)

E) Run your program, and see if you can get that new custom built TextBox to appear when you click on your Label!

Once you have all of that going, do some exploration of your own, and see what else you can find out. MAKE SURE YOU POST A DISCUSSION ON WHAT YOU FIND!

Also, make sure to upload this new version of our project

Cheers,

Mr. L

Thursday Dec 18, PART TWO

2008-12-17T07:26:00.000-08:00

OK, now that we've made a MsgBox show up, let's see if we can add to that SUB:

A) Add a TextBox to your form the way you've always done: just drag it on there!

B) rename it "HardWired"

C) In the SUB procedure that you just created in your module, add this line of code:

Form1.HardWired.Text = "TASTE THE RAINBOW!!"

D) Run the program again, and see if the message shows up in your textbox

OK, that was pretty simple, so let's get right to PART THREE!

Cheers,

Mr. L

Thursday December 18: Building on what we've already done PART ONE

2008-12-17T07:03:00.000-08:00

Hey there hi there ho there!

Today, we will continue with our work with classes. We will build on the project we worked on yesterday, adding several modifications to it. After we have done that, I will ask you to do some exploration of what we have learned on your own. Here is what we will be adding:

A) You will make your label -- which is based on the Class called "RainBowLabel" -- do something by calling a SUB inside of a module. Then, I will show you how to do something else from within that same SUB procedure, and apply it to a control --in this case a textbox-- that you place on your form the way you've always done it: by just dragging it on to the form!

B) You will make a second Class, and use the "Layout" event to make that Class look a certain way

C) You will will use the Class that you made yesterday to create an object from the Class you just made in B), and then put that new object into your form.

HERE IS HOW YOU DO ALL THAT:

1) Re-open the project from yesterday

2) Add a new Class and name it "RainBowCalling"

3) Set up a SUB procedure in that module called
Public Sub PopItUp( )

4) Inisde that SUB, just put this one line of code:
MsgBox("You dont taste one bit like skittles!!")

5) make sure that you "CALL" that SUB from inside the Class "RainBowLabel" by
getting back into the code for the RainBowLabel class, getting into its event list from the left hand pulldown, then look for the "Click" event in the right hand pulldown

6) inside the new SUB that jumps up out of nowhere, put in this line of code"
MsgBox("You dont taste one bit like skittles!!")

7) Run the program, and click on your label to see if it works

When everybody has that done, we'll go onto Part Two

Cheers,
Mr. L

Wed December 17: a more in-depth examination of classes

2008-12-16T16:59:00.000-08:00

Greetings, exalted coders!

Today we will continue with our examination of classes, what they are and how they work. Let's start with the basic theory, since it seems to be a bit difficult to master, then we will move on to an example that proceeds bit by bit.

A) The Theory: ALL of Vb.net is based on Classes. Everything you see in your program starts out as a Class, EVERYTHING. That's all your Forms, all the controls you put on a form, every last bit.

Classes INHERIT from other classes. That is, they get features that other classes already have because they "derive" from those other classes. Kind of like the way I get my blue eyes & love for building things from my dad, and my love of reading and knack from gardening from my mom

You can create your own class, and give it features that the original class never dreamed of. My dad is a builder, but he never dreamed of building in code. My mom likes to garden, but HER gardens are like something from Martha Stewart. Mine look a lot more like "Little Shop of Horrors"

Classes are like blueprints: you use them to build objects, which are things you can actually see and use in your program. I'm already planning for next year's gardens; and next year, my "garden object" gets instantiated starting April 1st.

Classes can include functions, sub routines and calls to other functions and sub-routines that are inside separate modules. Because these modules are outside both your class, and whatever form you put your new object in, that new object can call those functions and subs, and DO stuff with them

OK, enough theory. Here's what I want you to do today:

A) create a new project called BasicallyClasses plus your name

B) Drag a Label onto Form1, and then lets look at its properties. A Label has lots and lots of them, including stuff like:
Text
BackColor
ForeColor
Name
Width
Height

and many many others. Some of these properties are "read only" meaning its pretty darned difficult to set them inside a Class -- but you can certainly try!

C) A label also has a lot of methods: things that a label can DO. You can see a great big honking list of them by getting into the code for your form, and setting the pulldown menu at the top left to "Label1", then opening the pulldown menu at the top right. Yup, there's craploads of stuff in there!

D) OK, now let's add a new class. Name this one "RainBowLabel" (Don't worry, you'll get to repeat this process later, and use your own name. Just humor me, m'Kay?)

E) Just below the "Public Class...." line, add an inherits line of code like so:
Inherits Windows.Forms.Label

F) Now lets look at the pulldown menus for this new class. The one at the left has an entry for "RainBowLabel events" Choose that. The one at the right will then list a bunch of stuff, including one for "Layout" Choose that one: it allows you to set some basic stuff for your label INSIDE the class.

G) Notice that when you do this, the program creates a new "Sub" for you. That's where today's code will go. Remember those properties you saw in the first Label you just drgged onto the form? Let's set some of those, like so:

Text = "Chlorophyllllll"
BackColor = Color.Green
ForeColor = Color.Blue
Name = "Green"
Width = "149"
Height = "20"

Please note that for some properties, you will get a message that it's "read only". This means you cannot set it here in the class. Or can you?

H) Get into the form load event for your Form, and add this:

Dim LabelOne As New RainBowLabel( ) 'create an object from the class
Me.Controls.Add(LabelOne) 'add the object to the Form

I) run the program and oh crap.....! Now what? Well, we forgot to tell the program how big your Label is and where we want it. So its basically got NO SIZE AT ALL, and its located NOWHERE on the form! Here's what I did to fix that:

Add this to the code inside your class:

Location = New Point(200, 200)
Size = New Size(400, 55)

This says that our Class recognizes that these two things exist, but notice we don't specify how big our label will be here in the class, although we could have.

Add this code to your "form load" (see if you can reason out where it should go exactly)

LabelOne.Location = New Point(200, 200)
LabelOne.Size = New Size(400, 55)

Now let's run it again and see what we get!

OK, that's enough for this part. Now what I want you to do is to repeat the process, and make a class that will create some other custom control for your form. Use the same steps that I showed you, and also, see what additional things you can do with it.

Cheers,
Mr. L

Monday December 15: More fun with classes

2008-12-14T16:05:00.000-08:00

Greetings, chattering code monkeys!

Today, you will be expected to do at least two separate yet equally important things:

A) Create a project that contains at least one form and three classes. Make darned sure that its named after yourself, plus the word "Three Classes". Each class must represent something that is unique, ands each one must DO something. At least one of the classes must contain at least two or more controls -- you can use a Panel to hold them all together if you wish

Each one of these classes must be instantiated somewhere on your form. In other words, you gotta use all the stuff you create! Once you're done with that, upload the project, and then....

B) Work on your personal project.

Happy coding!
Mr. L

Friday December 12: Coding with Class, PART TWO

2008-12-11T17:59:00.000-08:00

OK, now I will show you something else I've done with my button: it calls a function inside a module, and then assigns the result to that TextBox on our form. Here's how I did it:

A) I made a new Module and called it "GoGetIt"

B) I added a Function to it that returns a String thtas random plucked from an array (sound familar?)

Module GoGetIt

Public Function RandomEvil( ) As String

Dim Letters() As String = {"an EVIL petting zoo?", "I want chicken, I want liver", "Meow mix, meow mix, please deliver", "I will call him...mini me", "Silence!", "I will not tolerate your insolence"}

Dim whichQuote As Integer = 0
Dim SayIt As String
Dim A As New Random 'set a random seed
whichQuote = A.Next(0, Letters.Length - 1) 'number of elements in the Letters array
SayIt = Letters(whichQuote)
Return SayIt

End Function

End Module

C) Then, in my code for the "redButton" class, I called that function by placing this line of code:

RandomEvil( )

under the code that changes the buttons text and back color

Then, I sent the results of that Function to the TextBox on the Form:

Form1.TextBox1.Text = RandomEvil( )

So OK, show me something you can do with your button class. Or maybe make another class of your own. Your choice.

Cheers,

Mr. L

Friday December 12: Coding with Class, PART ONE

2008-12-11T17:24:00.000-08:00

Greetings, chattering code monkeys!

Today we are less than a month's worth of classes away from programming in Java. In celebration of this upcoming event --and just because its Friday-- we are going to look at a concept that Visual Basic has more or less copied from Java in the first place: the Class.

In Java, everything is a class; the whole darned language is Class-based. And, ever since VB went to .NET framework, Visual Basic has classes too. A Class is kind of like a blueprint: you use them to create actual objects. You've been using them all along: if you create a new Project and get into the code for your form, the very first line of code is

"Public Class Form1"

Today we will create our own classes. You will start out simply, then branch off into your own creations. Here's how we will start:

A) Create a new Project named after yourself plus the phrase "Legos"

B) on the Form1 that you get, create a TextBox

C) We are going to create a new type of control that can go on your form, so the first step will be to create a Class. You do this by Clicking on the Project menu, then clicking on the menuitem "Add Class". I named mine redButton, since our new class will be based on the Button class that already exists in VB

D) You will notice that you will get an empty set of code that looks like this:
Public Class redButton

End Class

Since your new class will create a button, you need to tell the program that. So, the first line of code is as follows:

Inherits Windows.Forms.Button

Classes can inherit properties and methods and other cool stuff from other classes, kind of like how I inherited my father's blue eyes and low tolerance for liars. Our class will be able to use all the stuff that buttons have, including this:

Private Sub redButton_Click(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Click 'this stuff is all on one line

All buttons can be clicked. So will yours

The next step is to add something simple to that button click. How's about we start with its caption and color? Add this inside that click method thingamabob:

Text = "Whoo Hoo!""
BackColor = Color.Red

The final step is to add this new type of button to your form. I did mine at Form Load:

'create a new button from your class
Dim myNewButton As New redButton( )
'what text does this button have?
myNewButton.Text = "Deep Thought"
'add the Button that is created from the class to the form
Me.Controls.Add(myNewButton)

This code adds the new kind of button to your form when you run the program, and not until then. You can also set its size and location like so:

'where on the form do we create this new button?

myNewButton.Location = New Point(100, 50)

'setting the size of the Button

myNewButton.Size = New Size(100, 55)

OK, let's run that thing and see if it works. Then I'm going to show you some other different stuff I've done with my button, and I will ask you to come up with some new stuff of your own.

Cheers,

Mr. L

Wed December 10: Actual for real randomness and pretty colors too!

2008-12-09T08:53:00.000-08:00

Greetings VB coders!!!

Today we will make a project that does several things:

A) Creates truly random numbers that are DIFFERENT everytime you start the program

B) Sets a limit to which number values are used -- basically, the smallest and the largest used

C) Uses these random numbers to populate an empty array with values from another array

D) Uses a for loop (which we still seem to have some issues with, at least some of us)

Here's how we do it:

1) Start off by making a project called LottsaRandom, with your name appended to the end of it

2) Add two buttons and one TextBox to this project. Rename the first button to "Mustard", & change its text to Mustard as well. Rename the second button to "Ketchup", and change its text to read ketchup

3) rename the textbox to "codeSheet" and change its text to read "secret codes will go here"

4) get into the code for this project, and just below where it says "Public Class Form1" create the following:

a) an Integer variable called "whatChar"
b) a String array that has all 26 letters of the alphabet, AND the numerals 0 to 9 AND the characters ! @ # $

please not that each one of these items is an element in your String array. If you've forgotten how to make a String array, you have one as an example in our Ferris Bueller project

c) create an empty String array like this ----> Dim codes(7) As String
notice that this is also a String array, but it has spaces for elements, not actual elements. Think of an empty egg carton.

pause, take a breath, now for the real fun:

OK, so now we have to make a SUB procedure (remember those? it seems like just yesterday...)
This SUB has to be able to create truly RANDOM numbers, and it cannot start with the same random set of numbers every time!

PLUS, the random values must fall within a certain range. Why? Well, because we are trying to randomly pick out certain elements from the array that has stuff in it, and put them in the array that doesn't have anything yet. There are only 40 elements in the array that's filled, so we don't need to get random values going up to 100, or 100; that would make no sense

Here's how we do it:

Public Sub SevenRandomNumbers( )
Dim A As New Random 'set a random seed using the RANDOM class
Dim x As Integer 'set an integer to use in the loop
For x = 0 To 6 'go thru loop to fill codes array
whatChar = A.Next(0, 40) 'number of elements in the Letters array
codes(x) = whatChar 'whatever x value is, that element in the empty array is filled
Next x
End Sub

OK, so now how do we "call" that SUB procedure? Simple, we get into the code for the "mustard" button (mustard, seed, get it? Oh well.....) and we call that SUB. Then we use the results we get to fill the textbox, like so:

SevenRandomNumbers( ) 'call the sub
Dim x As Integer
For x = 0 To 6
codeSheet.Text = codeSheet.Text & codes(x) & " "
Next x

OK, that oughtta do it. Lets try and run that program, and see what we get!

Cheers,
Mr. L

Tues December 9: SUBS are basically pretty cool!

2008-12-07T13:03:00.000-08:00

OK, that's better. Now let's get some new stuff done!

Today, we will explore creating our own SUB procedures. You've been using SUBS that VB automatically provides you: there's a SUB for form load, for a button click, etc etc.

BASICALLY, a SUB is kind of like a function, only it doesn't return a value; it just does something. We will create a sub that is started at form load, and is then called every 3 seconds using our old friend the Timer

We start by creating a new Project. Name it after yourself, plus the phrase "MySub"

On the Form, please add a label. You don't need to rename it, but let's set its font to a decent size, say about 35 or so.

In the form's code, you will be adding both a String array and an Integer variable, like so:
Dim OldAd( ) As String = {"On curves ahead", "remember sonny", "that rabbits foot", "didnt save the bunny", "BURMA SHAVE"} 'this is all one line
Dim PoemTick As Integer

Let's try to remember where this gets typed, OK?

OK, the next step is to create your very first sub. Really, all you have to do is type this:
Sub ReadPoem( )

This will automatically set up a place where you'll put in some code in a second

The next step is to add a control that will make this SUB called ReadPoem( ) happen at a regular interval. That's our old friend, the Timer. So drag one onto your form. Again, no need to rename it, just doubleclick on it and add this to it's code:

ReadPoem( ) This will make the sub happen at the interval you set in the Timer's property box (psssst, its at the lower right corner of the screen.) I set my interval at 3000 milliseconds

OK, so now let's add some actual code to your SUB:
If PoemTick < text =" OldAd(PoemTick)"> this will start you out at the beginning of the poem!

There, that ought to do it: run the program and see what you get!

Cheers,
Mr. L

Monday December 8: Part One

2008-12-07T12:59:00.000-08:00

UPLOAD ALL YOUR FILES

NOW This includes the latest version of your project from last Thursday (see HERE) AND the mini-project where I asked you to combine two different techniques (also HERE)

As of this moment, I don't have these files from any of you. Nothing else will take place in this class until they are uploaded to our account at Box.net

Cheers, Mr. L

PS If the files in question have in fact been uploaded, by all means, please come to my desk and show me where they are.

Thurs, Dec. 4: What's next

2008-12-03T11:23:00.000-08:00

greetings, one and all,
Today, you only have to do two things:

A) finish up the assignment from yesterday and upload both that little creation of yours, AND the "jukebox" project from THIS assignment

B) work on your personal project, and upload a version of that today BEFORE the end of class

Cheers,
Mr. L

PS I am attempting to find some alternatives to the file hosting we have at Box.net I may ask some of you to participate in an experiment for this very purpose. I will appreciate your full cooperation in this effort.

Wed December 3: part two

2008-12-02T17:08:00.000-08:00

OK, now that you've put together sound and comboboxes, I want you to repeat the process by doing this: put together in a project two things you've never made work together before. At least one of the controls you use should be something that has been demonstrated in this class. When you have done it, please post a discussion to our Google group describing what it is that you did. please include all relevant code.

When you are done with this, please upload the Jukebox project you made, then carry on with the personal project you are tending to.

Cheers,
Mr. L

Wed December 3: Something Old Something new

2008-12-02T16:27:00.000-08:00

Greetings, chattering code monkeys!

Today we are going to do at least two things before you get after your personal projects. This posting is about the first one; there'll be a second posting in short order.

WHAT TO DO:

A) create a new project, and name it after yourself plus the phrase "JukeBox"

B) To this form, add a button and a combobox. Change the text on the button to "Play"

C) get into the combobox's properties sheet, select the "collections" thingamabob, then add these items to it:

Cars
Girl U Want
Musique Automatique
I Gotta Wear Shades

these are the names of some songs I have for you in the VB Depot folder. Please note that they are .wav files, as VB will not play mp3s, at least not that I've seen

D) OK, now to get some code monkeyin' done! get into your code, and just beneath
"Public Class Form1" add in a String variable named "DaFolder", another String variable called "MySong" and a String Array called Songs( ) that has as its elements the names of those songs you just put into the combobox. Make sure to add the .wav extension at the end of each filename

E) In your "Form Load" event, you will set the value of "DaFolder" to wherever you are going to store the .wav files. Make sure you set the full pathname!

F) OK, so that was all old stuff. There wasn't one thing on there that we haven't done before. Now for the new stuff! We are going to make use of a property of your combobox called "SelectedIndex". The items in a ComboBox are listed the same way as the elements in an array: they start at ZERO. So it's pretty easy to use this to select a certain element from an array, say an Array of song names. Here's how I did it in the button click event:

'make sure that a song has been chosen
If ComboBox1.SelectedIndex < 0 Then
MsgBox("Please choose a song!")
Else
'set up default VB wav player
Dim Sound As New System.Media.SoundPlayer( )
'establish where the sound folder is
'and then pick a sound from that folder by the array
MySong = Songs(ComboBox1.SelectedIndex)
Sound.SoundLocation = DaFolder & MySong
'load and then play the sound!
Sound.Load( )
Sound.Play( )

OK, now here's the tricky part: I couldn't upload the song files, because they are too big to fit on Box.net. I will try to put them in the H drive, but failing that, I have them on a couple of thumb drives

Cheers,
Mr. L

PS there will be second part of this lesson -- be looking for it!

Fri Nov 21: Using combox boxes

2008-11-20T18:50:00.000-08:00

Greetings, fellow code monkeez,

Today being Friday and all, I thought that we should keep things as simple yet as informative as possible. Plus, I wanted to introduce you all to a couple of extremely useful controls:

A) the PANEL

B) the combobox aka, "pulldown menu"

A panel is good for holding other controls together as if they functioned as one unit. Combo boxes are good for holding lists of items in a visible fashion, so you can see them and use them. We are going to make use of both today. I will show you how the first time around, then you will find some other uses for BOTH these controls

OK, lets launch into this, shall we?

Step A) start up a new project and call it PullDowns

Step B) Add a button to your new form, and set its text to say "Shaazaam!"

Step C) Next, add a Panel to your form. Make it as big as possible without overlapping the Button you just made. Set its background color to red or blue or green or something bright. Set its visibility to "False"

Step D) Add a webbrowser control onto the Panel, and resize it so that it takes up most of the room inside the panel.

Step E) drag a combobox onto the Panel, and set it just above the webbrowser control

Now to set some properties and add some simple code. Here are the next steps:

Step F) your ComboBox has a property called "ITEMS"; next to it is the word "Collections" followed by a little button with dots on it. Click on that button

Step G) This pops up a place where you can add items to your combobox, similar to the way you added items to your menus the other day. Our collections list is going to consist of webpage addresses, something like this:

http://www.thinkgeek.com/
http://www.bittorrent.com/
http://www.limewire.com/

By all means, set your website addresses to whatever you want, as long as they are school appropriate

Step H) Doubleclick on the combobox to get into its code. We are going to use the items in the combobox to direct the webbrowser control to display a webpage. The code for it is pretty simple:

MsgBox(ComboBox1.SelectedItem)
WebBrowser1.Navigate(New Uri(ComboBox1.SelectedItem))

Step I) Now, add this code to that button you made:
Panel1.Visible = True

RUN your program to verify that it works; I will be observing you through LanSchool. Once you have mastered this, I want you to be able to prove what you know by using both a combobox and a panel in some other way. PLEASE POST A DISCUSSION ON HOW YOU DID THIS.

Please upload this new mini project, then you may return to work on your project, which you will also upload before the class is done.

Cheers,
Mr. L

Thurs Nov 20: Time to Clock OUT!!!

2008-11-19T10:17:00.000-08:00

Greetings, O keepers of the Microsoft code!
Today, we are going to accomplish three great and wonderful goals:

A) Learn the basics of using the TIMER control, and apply it to something useful

B) See if you can apply the techniques you've learned to make something else happen at a regular interval, guided by a timer.
MAKE A DISCUSSION POST ON OUR GROUP STATING WHAT YOU DID HERE

C) work on your individual projects -- and be sure to UPLOAD both of todays projects to the "VBDEPOT" folder at BOX.net

Right then, let's start with the first one. Here's what you have to do
1) start up a new project and name it after yourself plus the phrase "TimingX"

2) Add a label to Form1. You DON'T have to rename it, but you DO have to change the text and the font size. Make the size at least "42"; make the text say basically whatever you want, as long as its school appropriate

3) Set the Label's "visible" property to FALSE

4) Add a TIMER control to your form by dragging it from the toolbox onto to the Form. Set its "Interval" property to 1000, which means the same as one second

5) get into the TIMER code by doubleclicking on it. Add this code snippet:

' this calls a function named "secret word" thats stored in a module
SecretWord( )

6) OK, so now you need a function and a module to put it in. So, first things first, add a Module -- if you don't know how, ask your buddy, not me -- we've already done this several times now!

7) In the module, you are going to create a function that will make the Label appear and disappear according to what interval is set in the timer. Like any good function, it will need to return a variable. Since we're dealing with a "visible/hidden" situation, we will only need two states, ON and OFF. so your variable will be a boolean.

8) Here is the way I set up this function. Try it my way; or if you feel daring, try another way of doing this same thing:

Public Function SecretWord( ) As String
'the on or off variable

Dim OnOff As Boolean = False

'if the Label is hidden, then show it!
If Form1.Label1.Visible = False Then
Form1.Label1.Visible = True
OnOff = True

'if you can see the Label then HIDE it!
Else
Form1.Label1.Visible = False
OnOff = False
End If

'return the value of the variable
Return OnOff
End Function

9) Finally, get back into Form1, and this to its LOAD statement:

Timer1.Enabled = True 'make sure the timer is turned on
SecretWord( ) 'call the function the first time

OK, let's see if we can get that to work! I will come around to see if you've got it right. Once you've mastered that, I want to see you make a timer do something different: your choice as to what different will mean.

The rest of the class will be yours

Cheers,
Mr. L

Tues Nov 18: kicking butt, taking names

2008-11-18T08:13:00.001-08:00

Or words to that effect! Hello, and welcome back. Today, you will be allowed time to work on your individual projects again. Pleae make sure that you upload them to our "Depot" folder sometime before the end of class.

Additionally, I would like each of you to think of a specific request for a technique you would like to master. Please do so in the form of a discussion post, and title it your name plus "basically requests". I will do my best to incorporate theese requests into the curriculum, so please be sure that your request are as precise and as specific as possible. Remember, when the great computer was asked the question "what is the meaning of life, the universe and everything?" it took a million years for it to come back with the answer "42"

Nuff said!

Mr. L

Mon Nov. 17: finishing up and moving on

2008-11-16T06:26:00.000-08:00

Greetings, buccaneers of code,

Today you will need to do things:

A) Make absolutely sure that ALL the bugs have been worked out of your "Menus" mini-projects from last Friday. They should work as fully functioning webpage editors by now; when they do, please upload them to our folder on Box.net. Make sure they are named after yourself plus the word "menus"

B) Continue working on your own projects. Pass them in as well at least 3 to 4 minutes before the end of the class.

Cheers,
Mr. L

PS If you discover anything cool, please be sure to post a discussion on our Google group. If you have any long term difficulties, please be sure to email me at my gmail address.